From temporary shelter to lasting support: how refugee women are building solutions for the future

Yulia’s story and the journey of Female Support Force in Moldova

“We thought we were leaving for one week”

In early 2022, like thousands of Ukrainian women, Yulia crossed the border into Moldova believing the displacement would be short-lived. Many women left Ukraine hoping to give their children a brief break from air raid sirens and constant fear, never imagining that what was meant to be a week would turn into years.

Even in the most pessimistic scenarios, staying in Moldova for more than a year did not seem possible. Yulia returned to Ukraine for the first time only four months later, already realizing how profoundly life had shifted. Over time, refugee families managed to organize logistics, rebuild professional routines, and enroll their children in schools. Yet as months turned into years, uncertainty deepened rather than faded.

Temporary solutions began to feel permanent, bringing heavier questions. Housing remined unresolved, long-term stability elusive, and the future for women and children increasingly difficult to plan. Yulia describes a sense of being frozen in a situation without a visible exit, adapted to the present, yet unable to clearly imagine what comes next.

She never questioned where home was until she returned to Odesa, the city where she had lived before the war, and realized that what now felt like “home” was Moldova - the place where her children felt safe and where daily life had been rebuilt.

From shared experience to collective action

During her first months in Moldova, Yulia worked with local organizations, delivering paid trainings in creative and effective thinking to sustain herself and her family. In parallel, she was involved in several projects implemented by local NGOs supporting refugees. Alongside this work, she also volunteered, organizing meetings with women from the Ukrainian refugee community and participating in roundtables and consultations with public institutions as part of an informal refugee initiative group.

Because both her professional work and volunteer engagement involved close and constant interaction with Ukrainian refugee women, a circle of trusted peers and collaborators formed around her quickly. Many of these women shared similar challenges, questions, and uncertainties. Over time, this growing community made it clear that informal support was no longer enough and that a more structured, collective response was needed.

Together with another Ukrainian refugee, Yulia began shaping what would become Female Support Force, built on a peer-to-peer approach that was not symbolic, but strategic. The goal was to ensure that refugee women were not only consulted, but institutionally represented by those who lived the same realities and carried the same responsibilities.

UN Women: enabling the first step

Female Support Force was officially registered with the support of UN Women, a moment Yulia describes as decisive. Without this support, the organization would not have been able to take its first formal step.

Following registration, the team spent eight months working entirely as volunteers, with extremely limited capacity to meet the growing and complex needs of refugee women. The pressure was constant, and resources were scarce. When UN Women and the Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) provided institutional funding, it marked a critical turning point.

This support allowed Female Support Force to move beyond survival mode. The organization consolidated its internal systems, expanded its activities, and began delivering structured, professional support. Today, Female Support Force brings together eleven core team members, supported by volunteers and trainers, and operates within a growing network of trusted partners. Institutional grants from WPHF were instrumental not only in strengthening internal capacity, but also in enabling the organization to withstand funding gaps while preserving its community and institutional memory.

Delivering support and driving systemic change

Female Support Force provides comprehensive legal assistance, including access to free lawyers, psychological counseling, educational and social support, and employment guidance. Over two years, the organization has delivered direct assistance to approximately 4,000 refugees, provided legal support to around 1,000 individuals, offered psychological services to 500 people, and supported more than 100 beneficiaries through educational initiatives.

Beyond individual services, the organization has become a recognized advocacy actor. It has organized more than 35 roundtables and participated in thousands of advocacy meetings and consultations with national stakeholders. One of the most significant achievements was the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Education, which resulted in simplified and more transparent admission procedures for refugee children, reducing financial and administrative burdens for families.

Female Support Force also contributed to proposals and amendments to legislation on refugee integration and temporary protection. The organization is actively involved in shaping regulations on the extension of temporary protection, while consistently highlighting existing gaps that affect women’s access to employment, health insurance, and social protection. In parallel, cooperation with the Ministry of Economy focuses on expanding the list of recognized freelance professions, opening additional legal pathways for refugee women to work, contribute, and benefit from social protection.

A growing community amid shrinking support

Needs continue to grow, including among refugees returning from the European Union, many of whom find Moldova more accessible and socially familiar. At the same time, support systems have narrowed, with reception centers closed and assistance limited to a small number of people.

In response, Female Support Force has focused on strengthening community-based solutions. The organization has developed a network of activists supporting advocacy efforts, introduced family-oriented events to foster social cohesion, provided free sports and wellness activities, supported women entrepreneurs and start-ups, and organized information sessions and masterclasses. Demand remains high, at one recent event, registration closed within minutes, highlighting the need for a dedicated community space, which remains an aspiration for the future.

From resilience to leadership

Over time, Yulia’s vision has evolved. What once seemed unrealistic, international engagement and structured growth, has become a tangible plan. She describes herself as a leader who understands limits, builds teams, and is not afraid to ask for help. Displacement pushed her to change professional fields and grow into a stronger manager, both professionally and personally.

Despite ongoing financial challenges, including months of personal uncertainty, Yulia remains proud of what Female Support Force has achieved. Born in the midst of war and sustained through periods of shrinking global funding, the organization has not only survived, but grown - clear evidence, she believes, that its work responds to real and urgent needs.

Strengthening Women, Peace and Security through institutional leadership

Through institutional support provided under WPHF CfP4, the Ukrainian Women Refugee Network “Female Support Force” significantly strengthened its contribution to the Women, Peace and Security agenda. By consolidating governance systems, enhancing staff capacities, and maintaining a sustained presence in national coordination mechanisms and consultative platforms, the organization elevated the priorities of Ukrainian refugee women and girls within multi-year humanitarian planning and national policy dialogue.

Female Support Force contributed documented inputs to the Refugee Response Plan 2025–2027, engaged in discussions on amendments to the Law on Temporary Protection, and supported the development of the Education Integration Roadmap for refugee children. These efforts reinforced civil society accountability by helping ensure that WPS-related protection and participation commitments are reflected in the frameworks and policies shaping refugee response and social cohesion.

Institutional funding ensured operational stability for six months by covering core operational costs, primarily staff remuneration. This stability prevented operational downtime and enabled the organization to maintain leadership in coordination and advocacy platforms. During this period, Female Support Force adopted and operationalized key governance and accountability tools, including policies on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, financial management, and procurement. Fourteen Ukrainian refugee women, two staff members and twelve volunteers, strengthened their competencies through targeted capacity-building on project management, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

As a direct result of these investments, the organization secured additional programmatic funding, including a USD 95,000 WPHF grant for the project “From Refugee to Women of Impact: Empowering Ukrainian Activists through Advocacy, Development, and Women-to-Women Support.” This growth reflects broader trends within UN Women Moldova’s portfolio: from 2022 to late 2025, including the new call for proposals, the portfolio expanded to 48 projects implemented by 26 NGOs, with a total value of USD 5.69 million, demonstrating sustained commitment to refugee-led and women-led organizations as drivers of inclusive, accountable, and resilient responses.